Texas Senator Ted Cruz delivered emotional remarks about the deadly floods that devastated central Texas over the July 4 weekend, calling for improvements to warning systems after returning from a vacation in Greece where he was photographed touring the Parthenon as rescue crews searched for survivors.
The Republican senator appeared at multiple press conferences Monday and gave interviews throughout the week as the death toll from the catastrophic flooding climbed past 100, with at least 27 campers and counselors confirmed dead at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River.
“Now, when tragedy strikes, we ask ourselves, what could have been done differently? And that’s a question that we need to ask,” Cruz said during a Monday press conference in Kerrville. The senator outlined the stages of disaster response, emphasizing that “Stage number one is search and rescue, and that’s got to be the first priority, saving lives, getting lives out of harm’s way.”
Vacation Amid Crisis
Cruz was already in Athens, Greece, on a pre-planned family vacation when the floods struck early Friday morning, July 4. The senator was spotted visiting the Parthenon in the Greek capital, Athens, with his wife, Heidi, on Saturday evening – approximately 24 hours after floodwaters swept through Camp Mystic.
The Senator was already in the middle of preplanned family vacation travel overseas when the flooding occurred on July 4,” the spokesperson said, noting Cruz spoke with federal and state officials within hours of the flood to coordinate federal resources for the search-and-rescue effort.
A tourist photographed Cruz at the Parthenon around 6 p.m. Athens time Saturday, which was 10 a.m. Central time. Thirty minutes later, local officials in Kerr County confirmed in a press conference that 27 people were dead and dozens more were missing.
Defending Response Timeline
Cruz’s office defended the timing of his return, stating he “promptly booked a flight back home. Given the time difference, he left Athens on Sunday morning and was back in Texas that night. And he was in Kerrville on the ground early Monday morning”.
The senator’s communications director, Macarena Martinez, blasted media coverage of the trip, calling reports about his vacation “A bull**** piece published by a bull**** rag outlet with no credibility, and with no regard for the tragedy in Texas”.
During his Monday appearance in Kerrville, Cruz emphasized the need for retrospection after the immediate crisis. “Stage number two is recovery and rebuilding, and that’s a process that takes months or even years,” he said. “Texas will rebuild. We’re strong, but there’s also a process of engaging in a retrospective and saying, what is the exact timeline of what transpired, and what could we have done better.”
Worst Flooding in Century
The floods marked Texas’s deadliest freshwater flooding event in more than 100 years. The Guadalupe River swelled more than 26 feet in less than an hour early Friday morning, sweeping low-lying homes, cars and trees downstream and washing away much of Camp Mystic, an all-girls’ Christian summer camp.
Search and rescue teams are looking for 161 missing people in Kerr County, possible victims of the July 4 Hill Country flood whose death toll has climbed to 109 victims, according to an update from Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday afternoon.
The confirmed deaths at Camp Mystic included girls as young as 8 years old, as well as the camp’s longtime director, Richard “Dick” Eastland, who reportedly died while trying to evacuate campers to safety.
Questions About Warning Systems
Cruz addressed the lack of adequate warnings during a Fox News appearance Monday, stating: “Look, the fact that you have girls asleep in their cabins when the floodwaters are rising, something went wrong there. We’ve got to fix that and have a better system of warning to get kids out of harm’s way.
The senator also fielded unusual questions about conspiracy theories during Monday’s press conference. “To the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification. Look, the internet can be a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories,” he said.
Political Fallout
The disaster prompted criticism of recent federal budget cuts. Cruz amended President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to end a $150M fund that sought to “accelerate advances and improvements in research, observation systems, modeling, forecasting, assessments, and dissemination of information to the public.
However, Cruz pushed back against partisan criticism at Monday’s press conference. I think this is not a time for partisan finger-pointing and attacks,” Cruz said at a news conference with local officials in Kerr County on Monday morning.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the federal response, stating that despite unprecedented rainfall, “the National Weather Service executed timely and precise forecasts and warnings.
Heroic Rescue Efforts
Amid the tragedy, stories of heroism emerged. Petty Officer Scott Ruskin was on his first mission and became the only triage coordinator on the scene after his team decided he would stay there to help coordinate rescues. Ruskin was able to get 165 people out of the flood zone and onto rescue helicopters.
Camp counselors, many of them teenagers, were credited with saving lives. “Two counselors were in the rapids and one on the dry hill moving the kids from hand to hand,” she added. “A lot of them lost their shoes and then climbed up the rocky hill to safety”.
Investigation Ahead
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick acknowledged gaps in the warning system, stating “there should have been sirens here”. Reports indicated that Kerr County had previously considered installing flood warning sirens but rejected the plan due to cost concerns.
Governor Abbott announced that state House and Senate committees would investigate the disaster response ahead of a special legislative session. “We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” said Abbott, who toured the areas impacted by the flooding Tuesday.
The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for the area on July 3 at 1:18 p.m., upgrading it to a flood warning just after midnight on July 4. By 4:06 a.m., the agency warned of an ongoing “very dangerous flash flooding event.
As recovery efforts continue, questions remain about whether additional preparations could have prevented the devastating loss of life at Camp Mystic and throughout the Hill Country region.
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Image Credit:
Ted Cruz – Photo by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
